


How Did We Get From Not Knowing Who We Were To Kissing?

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Post-Episode: s03 Oblivio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 13:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: In the aftermath of Oblivio's attack Marinette is going crazy trying to figure out what exactly happened. So she sits down with Chat Noir and together they try to piece it all together. They end up finding out more than they expected.





	How Did We Get From Not Knowing Who We Were To Kissing?

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Oblivio for the 25,913th time, OK, not really, but 25th could be close to the truth (I actually lost count). And it all hit me anew. And I just decided they totally deserve to get that post-Oblivio talk, when they try to figure out what happened, together. This is what I came up with.

Marinette was sure she would soon go crazy.

Obviously, it wasn’t enough that she couldn’t get the photo out of her mind. Ever since that fateful moment when she’d been blindsided by the image on Alya’s phone in the middle of arguing with Chat Noir. Seeing them like that, kissing like it was the most natural thing in the world, was shocking to say the least.

It had also made her look totally deranged as she had seconds ago just stood there telling him they were not a couple, reminding him that she was in love with someone else. All arguments rendered pointless by one innocent photo. 

She’d left flustered, confused, doubting her sanity. And once she was at home, looking at the photo in peace, she felt even more conflicted. 

What was the point in denying the truth It was there for all the world to see. And, apparently, the whole world was watching.

It was no surprise that Alya had posted it on the blog. She wasn’t one to miss out on the scoop and she totally had an advantage this time - there was no one else who could possibly have a similar photo, she’d been the only one there after all. But still, Marinette was mad at her. It had obviously been a private moment that she’d captured. Taking the photo was one thing. It had proven surprisingly useful when seconds later they’d both forgotten it had even happened. 

Marinette secretly wished there’d been no evidence. Whatever had happened would have stayed forgotten. But no such luck. 

Still, showing them the photo and leaving it at that was okay. But posting it online, for everyone, not to mention Hawk Moth, to see? How could Alya overlook the repercussions such a simple act could cause? 

The comments were so overwhelmingly positive. People were celebrating their favourite superheroes getting together. It almost pained Marinette to imagine what their reaction would be when they found out this was not true. 

Well, she at least had an excuse for the public. Her memory had been wiped. She hadn’t been herself. 

But there was nowhere for her to run from the nagging question in her head. Then why had she done that? Kiss Chat willingly, obviously not caring that there was someone there to see them. She looked totally at ease, lost in the moment. What had made her do that? What had happened during that short period of time when their memories had been gone?

She’d been racking her brain for hours without reaching any conclusion. Nothing she could think of explained their behaviour. Finally, exhausted, she’d given up and fallen asleep.

The next day even if she’d tried, she couldn’t have been able to forget about the photo. It had blown up way out of proportion, only adding to her already growing discomfort. 

Not surprisingly, it was everything Alya could talk about. Marinette tried very hard to make the right noises and fake excitement. But it only made her feel worse. What’s more, Alya’s own retelling of what had happened didn’t help shed any light on how it’d come to be in the first place. 

“There I was, slowly coming to myself, and what do I see? Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing!” Alya said and Marinette tried very hard not to wince. “I didn’t even pause to think before whipping out my phone and taking a photo. And in the nick of time. A second later, they pulled apart, looked lovingly into each other’s eyes and then she did her thing, Miraculous Ladybug. As the ladybugs repaired everything and brought it back to normal, they just held hands, staying very close to each other, with their eyes closed, bracing for the inevitable. You should have seen them, Marinette! They looked resigned and still so determined to not let go. Then the ladybugs worked their magic and you wouldn’t believe the change. They suddenly looked at each other and practically leapt apart, as if burned by the contact. Totally disoriented and confused. They did their “Pound it!” after we told them we’d been the villain and they’d already defeated him. And then they started arguing! Chat was saying that they made a good couple and Ladybug looked so fed up, as if she was saying this for the hundredth time, as she told him that they were a team, not a couple. And you know what? She said she was in love with someone else! Can you believe that? I figured it was the right time to show them the photo. You wouldn’t believe their faces! They were so shocked. But while Chat was clearly in heaven, thinking this was a dream come true, Ladybug was all “This is a disaster!” Poor girl didn’t know what’d hit her! Soon after that she was off so I couldn’t take an official statement. But trust me when I say, I don’t know what’s going on with those two, but I saw it with my own eyes - they were clearly in love and very much enjoyed that kiss.”

Marinette was sure her cheeks were aflame and looked away, while trying to find something to say. It was just too much, to hear all this coming from a witness. How could she deny when she didn’t know what had happened?

“I… I’m sure it’s something between them and you shouldn’t be too nosy,” she stammered. 

“But people want to know! Have you seen the comments? They all want them to be together. And seeing that photo just… I don’t know. They want to see a happy ending, I guess.” Alya said.

Marinette felt her heart lurch. She wasn’t responsible for people’s fantasies and secret hopes. She was an ordinary girl behind the mask and didn’t owe it to anyone to fall in love with the person they wanted her to end up with. She’d always suspected that people wanted her and Chat to get together. But it had been surprisingly easy to fend off questions about that until now. This photo made things so much harder. How was she going to explain that there was nothing going on between them? Call it a momentary lapse of judgement?

Alya didn’t pay any attention to her worrying. She was too caught up in her own theories. And everyone around them was pretty much doing the same. It was all everyone was talking about, making Marinette feel trapped. 

She somehow made it through the day but people’s reactions and conversations weren’t the only thing dragging her down. As time passed, she grew more agitated. In addition to all the confusing thoughts in her head, she’d need to face Chat soon. Sooner than she’d liked, it was upon her. She slowly and reluctantly made her way to their meeting place. 

She found herself torn between the need to talk about this, especially with the other person who was implicated by the photo and was pretty much going through the same thing as her, and hoping against hope that he’d somehow forgotten about it ever happening. Yeah, she was delusional. 

One look at his face and she knew there was no hope. He was clearly confused, just like her, but he could hardly contain his happiness. Of course, Marinette thought bitterly, for him what had happened was great, victory at last. Even if he couldn’t remember, there was proof. She was sure he’d rub it in her face. But maybe she was being unfair. 

“So, I guess we have to talk,” she said as she stopped on the roof in front of him. 

Her look must have been grim because the smile slipped off his face.

“It might help us understand what happened and why. You must be curious too,” he said. 

Curious wasn’t the right word but it’d had to do.

“Well, people are certainly excited about this latest development,” she tried to laugh it off, to pretend it was a joke. He totally saw through her but apparently decided to play along.

“You think? I don’t know how many times I heard people talking about this today. And it’s all over the internet.,” he said. 

“Tell me about it. My best friend wouldn’t shut up about it. It would be a dream come true for her,” Marinette said forlornly. 

“Poor you. It must have been hard for you.” The genuine concern in his eyes caught her off guard. It was at times like this, when it was so clear that he cared about her too much, that she questioned her determination to keep him at an arm’s length. Why was she denying herself this? Wow, and she still wondered by her amnesiac self had acted like that? No that surprising, it seems. 

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing new. What’s driving me crazy though is the fact that I have no idea what happened. Besides, you know.. “She waved around, “The obvious.”

“Yeah, me too. You may find it hard to believe but I also want to know why it happened. I’m not satisfied just knowing that it happened.” That put her in her place, since she’d been thinking just that earlier. 

By then, they’d settled on the edge of the roof, feet dangling in the air. 

“Gah! I don’t know what to do. If this is what it feels like to be hungover and trying to piece together what you did while being drunk, I swear I’ll never drink,” she said dramatically. 

“So, you know what they say. Two minds think better than one. Let’s start at the beginning. What’s the last thing you remember before we lost our memories?”

“Hm. Let me see. You’d just used your Cataclysm, to no avail. I was trying to figure out what to do with my Lucky Charm. Then you were hit. I pulled you into the elevator and tried to leave myself a message to call Master Fu in case I was hit by Oblivio. And then I guess I was. And nothing until we “woke up” on the roof, with Alya and Nino. “

“OK. Let’s see what the have to work with. Were were both running out of time, close to detransforming. I guess we fell asleep and a short while later we regained consciousness to find we were together but didn’t know who we were.”

“So far, so good. So how did we get from there to…” She looked away, cheeks burning.

“Kissing? My guess is as good as yours. But I think we woke up as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Because we somehow figured out we were superheroes and later transformed back.”

“So, let’s assume we were first Ladybug and Chat Noir and then detransformed. And we had to start from zero. What did we have with us that could help us figure it out? ID, phones…”

“ID would have given us the names but nothing more.”   
“How about phones? Can you think of something on your phone that could have led you to believe there was something more between us? If we assume that’s what we were thinking.”

“With you?” she asked incredulously. 

“Or rather with my civilian self.”

“But I don’t know who you are! I can’t have anything on my phone related to you in any way!”   
“Then what do you have? The obvious thing, that doesn’t require too much digging around?”

Marinette’s mind suddenly conjured the wallpaper image on her phone. A photo of Adrien. How could this play any role in figuring out her relationship with Chat? She could practically imagine showing it to him to have him ask why she had a photo of another guy on her phone. This would in no way help them get closer, right? Unless…

As she thought, her eyes moved over Chat’s familiar features - the eyes (she knew for a fact that they were indeed green), the hair, even sometimes the smile. She felt her pulse quicken, her eyes widen in surprise. Chat must have seen that too.

“Is there anything ringing any bells?”

Marinette gulped. It was the only clue she had so she’d have to take the plunge. 

“I have a photo of my crush as my phone’s wallpaper,” she mumbled. 

“How the hell would this have helped bring us together?” he was genuinely perplexed and rightfully so. 

“I have this really wild theory. But… testing it out would mean you might have to reveal your identity.” She hoped so much that he wouldn’t agree to this. 

“You know I don’t really care about that. If it helps, bring it on.”

It was now or never. She couldn’t believe she was doing this but the need to know was too strong. Especially with this strange conviction that she was so close to the truth. 

“It’s Adrien,” she blurted before she could chicken out.

The way he jumped in shock. The way his mouth gaped open. He was obviously surprised and confused but there was also that telltale joy in his eyes. She was looking for it so she saw it. 

She closed her eyes and hung her head. 

“I’ve been such an idiot,” she muttered. 

So stupid. The truth had stared her in the face all this time. And she’d been blinded by her feelings for Adrien. To see Adrien. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder. There really was nowhere to run so she turned to face him. 

“Do you mean... “ he started, then stopped and cleared his throat. 

“That I’ve been in love with you all along? I guess. Isn’t this the funniest thing? That’s the mystery resolved, I guess.”

“You just had a photo of me on your phone for everyone to see?” he asked then.

“Well… my best friend knows about you. My family too, I guess. And to everyone else I could’ve just said that I was just a fan.”   
“A fan. I sure have heard that one before,” he mused, not looking at her and not seeing the way her face must have gone a few shades whiter.

“Wouldn’t it be the funniest thing in the world if you turned out to be Marinette?” He said it offhandedly, clearly joking. But he heard her sharp intake of breath. And when he looked at her saw what must have been a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on her face. 

He caught on pretty quickly, to his credit. 

“Oh my God. I didn’t just accidentally figure out your identity, did I?”

She wasn’t sure if she managed to nod but he must have taken her silence as a “yes”.

“You’re telling me you used your own “other people” excuse on me? Not about a single photo, but all of them I saw. On your wall, by your bed, flying all around your room as we fought Troublemaker.”

OK, she clearly hadn’t expected the conversation to take that direction. He wasn’t surprised that Ladybug was Marinette. He was focusing on the fact that she’d lied to him that she was just a fan. And it was so much worse now to know that he’d been in her room and had seen the photos firsthand. No wonder he’d been so interested in them.

“Is this how little you trust me?” he sounded hurt and betrayed. It wasn’t about the photos at all, she was certain now. It was about her lie. 

“No. No! Of course I trust you!” She all but shouted. “I panicked. I was so embarrassed that you’d seen the photos on TV. I was afraid that you thought I was some kind of psycho or something.”

“You could have told me,” he said softly. “I wouldn’t have made you feel bad about it.”

“I wish I had, really. Hiding my feelings from you, waiting for the right moment to tell you and missing out on this opportunity… It was all for nothing,” Marinette admitted ashamed.

“Well, you sure as hell didn’t have any problem confessing to me as Chat.” He again said it as a joke. But it hit both of them at once and they froze, looking at each other in shock.

“You lied to me then too!” he almost shouted. Not yelling at her, he was just indignant, obviously. 

“Technically I didn’t, but I didn’t know it at the time…” she started, but was cut off by him.

“But… do you have any idea how wretched I felt for having to reject you? Seeing you hurt, how bad your family felt… I thought you’d gotten akumatized because of me!”

He was up and pacing the rooftop by that time. He was clearly agitated. 

Marinette realised she’d been so selfish. Yes, she’d seen his concern and she’d felt bad for lying, but it’d never even crossed her mind that he could feel so bad. 

But of course it made sense that he’d been afraid for her. And then he’d had to fight her father on his own and she’d seen how exhausted he’d been. She could only imagine how bad he’d felt through the fight, blaming himself for it. Seeing him relive it now brought home to her how much he’d been affected by it all.

He’d stopped pacing, instead staring into the distance, no doubt remembering and feeling it all over again. She hated herself for the pain she had caused him.

She didn’t even hesitate before going to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind. She felt him stiffen.

“I’m sorry, kitty. I really didn’t think of the consequences. It was just a little while lie to protect my identity until it wasn’t. Forgive me.”

He relaxed a little at her words. His hands, which had been at his sides in tight fists, moved to cover hers. It was so good to be able to comfort him and to feel comforted herself. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. They stayed like that for a while, his breathing easing. She was the one who broke the silence. 

“I’m sorry I got us into this mess. I should have gathered courage to tell you how I really felt. Although it’s clear now that I would have been rejected.” She said this matter-of-factly. It was easy to be unaffected by this now that she knew who he was and how he felt about her. If this hadn’t change along with the reveal. 

He clearly wanted to deny it but there was no point, they both knew the truth. 

“And I guess I would’ve deserved it after all the times I turned you down…” she added. 

She just felt his hands tighten their hold on hers. 

“Now that we’ve gotten this out of the way. There is something else to figure out. If your photo on my phone helped me realise how I felt about you, then how did you figure out you were in love with me?” 

She heard him gulp. He obviously knew the answer to that one. Oh, there was something he was ashamed to admit.

“I… have photos on my phone too.” His voice was barely audible. 

“Of me?” She asked startled. 

“Are you surprised? I never hid my feelings for you,” he said brazenly. She couldn’t do anything but smile. 

“So we figured I was in love with Adrien and you with Ladybug and it still didn’t seem strange to us?”

She could feel him shaking with silent laughter. 

“We’re quite a pair, you know. We must have thought that we knew each other’s identities,” he said.

“It would have prevented a lot of this… mess if we did,” she admitted bashfully. 

“I thought you were against it.”

“I’m not always right, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She’d been the one to insist on this. And as a result they could never get too close. Since she wanted to keep him at an arm’s length, this was in her interest. But she’d never considered how lonely it must have been for him. And he’d stopped objecting after a while. 

“I”m sorry I never gave you the chance to tell me how you felt about me,” she said, ashamed. 

“What do you mean? He asked, finally turning towards her. Her hands remained around him. He put his on her shoulders as he waited for an answer, adding, “I did.”

“No. I never gave you an opportunity to say it out loud. Because I already knew and I thought hearing it would have made me feel even worse.” She looked down. “ You only told Marinette,” she added quietly.

“You did the right thing. You thought you were in love with someone else so you were honest with me. I shouldn’t have pushed you further,” he said, regret colouring his voice.

As he said that, she felt a small kiss on the top of her head. She hadn’t realised how touch-starved she’d been before now. Because of her stupid rules. Now, this tender gesture almost brought tears to her eyes. 

“But it helped when I heard it, you know.” she told him. “I realised you weren’t just stubborn. Instead, you just couldn’t help feeling the way you felt. I should have been more understanding.” 

“Marinette… It’s ok.”

“You can say it now. If you still want to.” She couldn’t believe she’d said that. Maybe the need to actually hear him say it had given her courage. Or she was done with pretending and avoiding. 

He paused and she wondered if she’d ruined it all.

Then she felt a finger under her chin, tilting her head up, to look at him.

“I love you, m’lady,” he whispered almost reverently, his eyes glowing with the very love he was declaring. So she just said it too.

“I love you, Adrien.” 

It felt so good, so freeing to have it all out in the open. But she also felt very shy all of a sudden.

Marinette looked down while her hand found his, their fingers interlacing. She looked mesmerised at the red and black pattern their fingers made. It was beautiful and felt so right. 

“So, our amnesiac selves sure made this look very easy,” she mumbled.

He chuckled, the sound somehow enough to draw her eyes back to his. 

“No time like the present to find out. With your permission, m’lady.”

She gave a small nod, closed her eyes and felt his lips on hers. It was soft and sweet, absolutely breathtaking, but still somehow it wasn’t enough. Marinette freed her hand from his and brought it to his hair along with her other one, burying her fingers into his blond locks and pulling him closer. His hands were on her hips and pulled her to him in a tight embrace. All the while they didn’t break the kiss. 

Eventually, they had to pause to catch their breath and Adrien said softly,

“I think we did better than the last time.”

“We have no way to know for sure, but at least we’ll remember this,” she joked. 

“Well, in case you’re worried you won’t, I can totally refresh your memory,” he said, already leaning in for another kiss.

Marinette chuckled softly before kissing him again. This time they were in no hurry, there were no paparazzi to catch them in the act and yes, they were not afraid that they’d forget it. They had all the time in the world. 


End file.
